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Times Jumbo Cryptic Crossword 1352

Following last week’s post, here’s my completed grid for this week’s Times Jumbo Cryptic Crossword, along with explanations for the solutions where I have them. As ever with these things there were a few WTF solutions in there and a couple of clues that still leave me scratching my head, but overall this was easier than last week’s puzzle. At least it didn’t keep me up until 1am trying to solve it. And to think there are crossword kings and queens out there who can crack these things in an hour or two. Sheesh!

Answer: NUNATAK, a point of rock appearing above a surface of land ice, (i.e. “something outstanding in white”). If you ever needed proof that everything has to have a name, there it is. Solution is derived by removing every other letter (i.e. “regularly”) from UNFUNNY ART PACK.

Answer: GRAHAM, (i.e. “chap”). Solution is HA (i.e. “has shortly”, i.e. the word “has” with the last letter removed) inserted into (inferred by “to cut”) GRAM (i.e. “weight”), like so: GRA(HA)M. As noted in last week’s post, I’m never keen when the setter has to rely on given names to get the job done. It’s even worse when the entire solution is a given name.

Answer: LIGNIN, “a complicated mixture of substances deposited in the thickened cell walls of plants, making them rigid”, i.e. (“woody material”). So another everyday word then! The solution is ALIGNING (i.e. “straightening”) with the first and last letters removed (i.e. “with edges removed”). Needless to say this is one of those solutions I got from the wordplay rather than a deep knowledge of… er… “woody material”.

Answer: INELASTIC (i.e. “not giving”). Not entirely sure about the solution for this one, but I reckon it’s IN (as in the “in” in the clue, if you get what I mean) followed by the letters EC (i.e. “city” – though quite which city I couldn’t say) wrapped around (inferred by “guards”) LAST (i.e. “survive”) and I (i.e. “one”), like so: IN-E(LAST-I)C.

25. Taking on a lecturer without work – half time (8)

Answer: ADOPTION (i.e. “take on”). Solution is A DON (i.e. “a lecturer”) wrapped around (inferred by “without”) OP (i.e. “work” – “op” being a recognised abbreviation for operator or operation) and TI (i.e. “half time”, i.e. the first half of the word “time”), like so: AD(OP-TI)ON.

26. Crack bringing head of safety into aircraft (4)

Answer: JEST (i.e. “crack”, as in a wisecrack). Solution is S (i.e. “head of safety”, i.e. the first letter of “safety”) placed into JET (i.e. “aircraft”), like so: JE(S)T.

29. Philharmonic took in composer audibly a lover of French timbres? (11)

Answer: PHILATELIST, a stamp collector. Solution satisfies the wordplay in both “Philharmonic took in composer” and “a lover of French timbres”. Regarding the former, the solution reads PHIL-ATE-LIST, i.e. Phil (short for “Philharmonic”) ate (i.e. “took in”) list (i.e. a homophone (inferred by “audibly”) of composer Franz Liszt’s surname). Regarding the latter, the French for stamp is “timbre”, so solution is a lover of stamps.

31. Notes country is keeping one Conservative and tame (11)

Answer: DOMESTICATE (i.e. to “tame”). Solution is DO and ME (i.e. “notes”, taken from the do-re-me-fa-so-la-te scale – your spellings may vary from those of the setter!) followed by STATE (i.e. “country”) wrapped around (inferred by “keeping”) I (i.e. “one”) and C (i.e. “Conservative”, C being a recognised abbreviation of the Conservative Party), like so: DO-ME-ST(I-C)ATE.

Answer: BOONDOCKS, a slang North American term describing wild or remote country. Solution is BO (i.e. “American male”, “bo” being an American slang word for a man) followed by ON (i.e. “working”) and DOCKS (i.e. “where ships unload”).

Answer: NOUN, a naming “word”. Solution is NO and UN (i.e. “peacekeepers”, i.e. the United Nations). Tsk. It seems there’s nothing the Russians won’t hack these days.

50. Heaven is being trapped in a row of shops (8)

Answer: PARADISE (i.e. “heaven”). Solution is IS inserted into PARADE (i.e. “is being trapped in a row of shops”), like so: PARAD(IS)E.

52. A bachelor told to go away (6)

Answer: ABSENT (i.e. “away”). Solution is A and B (i.e. “a bachelor”, “B” being a recognised abbreviation of bachelor) followed by SENT (i.e. “told to go”).

53. I sing idiot patter, arranging conjuring tricks (16)

Answer: PRESTIDIGITATION, a sleight of hand (i.e. “conjuring tricks”). “Arranging” indicates an anagram. Solution is an anagram of I SING IDIOT PATTER. I had to dig the Chambers out for this one, though I suspected it would start with something like “prestige” thanks to the Christopher Priest novel. A great word!

54. Worker in house or outbuilding (4-2)

Answer: LEAN-TO, a shed or suchlike propped up against the side of a property (i.e. “outbuilding”). Solution is ANT (i.e. “worker”, as in a worker ant) surrounded by LEO (i.e. “house”, i.e. a division of the horoscope more often called a sign), like so: LE(ANT)O.

55. Old soldier about to finish Territorial Army feud (8)

Answer: VENDETTA (i.e. “feud”). Solution is VET (i.e. “old soldier”, short for “veteran”) wrapped around (indicated by “about”) END (i.e. “to finish”) and then followed by TA (i.e. “Territorial Army”), like so: V(END)ET-TA.

Answer: NIMROD, specifically Variation IX of Elgar’s Enigma Variations. You’ll know it when you hear it. Solution is a reversal of both IN and DORM (i.e. “in bedroom”) as indicated by “both upside down”.

Answer: TESSITURA (i.e. “singer’s vocal range”). This was another solution I got from the wordplay rather than actually knowing the word. Solution is A RUT (i.e. “a routine”) followed by IS SET (i.e. “to be fixed”) and the whole lot then reversed (indicated by “over”).

Answer: HANG IN THE BALANCE (i.e. “Be uncertain”). Solution is HANGIN (i.e. “short tapestry”, i.e. the word “hanging” with the final letter removed) followed by THE BALANCE (i.e. “a zodiac subject”, specifically Libra, the scales).

12. Check up on men having second egg to begin with (7)

Answer: MONITOR (i.e. “check”).This is another clue that has me shrugging my shoulders. I’m guessing that “men having second egg” means replacing the second letter of “men” with an O, but, frankly, after that the setter has lost me.

Answer: ZUCCHINI, a courgette (i.e. “vegetable”). Solution is Z (i.e. “unknown” – the letters X, Y, and Z are often referred to as “unknown” in clues) followed by CHIN (i.e. “feature”) placed in UCI (i.e. “dutchie regularly”, i.e. every other letter of DUTCHIE), like so: Z-UC(CHIN)I.

22. VIP’s a bit out of date? (8)

Answer: SIXPENCE. Solution satisfies the wordplay of both “VIP” and “a bit out of date”. Regarding the latter, a “bit” is another name for a coin (e.g. a “threepenny bit”), and a sixpence is a coin no longer in circulation, i.e. “a bit out of date”. As for “VIP”, it took me ages to realise the setter had used Roman numerals, i.e. VI-p => 6p => sixpence. Well played.

23. Name eater associated originally with sardine? (13, 3)

Answer: MEDITERRANEAN SEA. And so from a great clue in 22d we come to one that is somewhat woollier. “Originally” indicates an anagram. Essentially the solution is an anagram of NAME EATER and SARDINE.

27. Surprise event is had with European paper (8)

Answer: TREATISE (i.e. “paper”). Solution is TREAT (i.e. “surprise event”) followed by IS and then E (i.e. “European”).

Answer: PROPHESY (i.e. “see forwards”). Solution is PROP (i.e. “rugby player”) followed by HE’S and then Y (i.e. “unknown” – as mentioned earlier, setters like to use “unknown” to represent the letters X, Y or Z).

35. Fees often do upset snobbish (6-5)

Answer: TOFFEE-NOSED (i.e. “snobbish”). “Upset” indicates an anagram. Solution is an anagram of FEES OFTEN DO.

Answer: OVERLARGE (i.e. “rather obese”). Solution is OVER (i.e. “on account of”) followed by an anagram (indicated by “swilling”) of LAGER, like so: OVER-LARGE.

42. Scorn girl’s passion after a year (9)

Answer: DISPARAGE (i.e. “scorn”).This is another clue where I’m not on the same page as the setter. I’m guessing “girl’s” is DI’S, “passion” could be RAGE and PA is “a year”, as in “per annum”, but it doesn’t feel right.